I tracked down the latest Nirans Viewer, downloaded it, installed it, logged in, and half of me was missing from the initial rez. That wasn't good, so I decided to try and find an older version.

Turns out NiranV has been releasing viewers designed for both 64x and 32x systems. My system is rigged for 32x, not 64x, and I'm fairly sure I'd been downloading 64x viewers prior to this (even though both the borrowed laptop and my old computer were rigged for 32x only.)

So...I deleted that version, scaled back to 1.45 for 32x systems, and installed it.

And got this. Oh, it's going to be a fun day already, I can tell.

Also, this is going to be the last entry. Tomorrow, I'm out on errands, so I may not even be in for wandering around normally, let alone snapping lots of pics.

This is Ploom's "Neopunk" in blonde (out of the box). I'm not entirely sure why this style is called "Neopunk", but it's pretty. Good flow, rezzes in rather beautifully over the head, and then drapes down strand by strand until it's properly seated.

This is Ploom's "Aternia" style in brown. This is more of a close-up than I usually do because the curl detail was so phenomenal, plus, it repeats in a visual link across the forehead as the curving bangs.

This is the same hair, in "ashblonde", from behind and slightly above, with the addition of the ornate mesh knife. Other than the fact that it's beautiful, there's something else very relevant about this hair: it's 27 prims. Sure, okay, it's mesh, and people who can't see mesh won't see your hair, but I'm long past accustomed to Tekeli-li hair clocking in around 300 prims. For something this ornate and detailed to be only 27 prim-weight is amazing to me.

And this is "Pnom", which I think would be ideal for post-apocalyptic or futuristic sims. It's stunningly original.

One other style was in the demo box but was not shown. You can find Tekeli-li's booth in Garden.

I may try for one more entry later on because I still have so much to go through--but if I don't, then this really is it. There's barely a day left, so if you've been waiting to go to Hair Fair, go now.

(What I'm wearing: SN@TCH's "Plaid Poppet" minidress, the "Utopia" eyes in Dark Red (size L) from IKON [Marketplace link], DV8's "Morrigan" ankle boots in Blood [sadly no longer available], and cStar Limited's "Miss Leo 2012" gacha skin in Satin Natural. [Note: there's a round of 26 skins in all on the roof of the store, they're currently L$15 each, but that's going to go up by L$1 each day until the promotion is over.]

If you ever wanted to know what would happen if a baseball was thrown at 90% of the speed of light...well, not that that's possible, but xkcd is here for you. There you go--scientifically accurate, funny, and really, really warped.

I don't know much more about it at this point, but I will look! Her eyes are PERFECT.

Also, from a friend:

[12:03 PM] Axxxxxxxx Rxxxxx: Pathfinding went out to Magnum code sims today - and apparently broke a lot of things judging by the bitching in the commerce group

That is very much not of the good. Especially considering pathfinding is going to be the single biggest impediment to effective player implementation since the introduction of V2/V3.

[Local] Macrovolt: One time I threw a chair at a friend cause he threw a chicken bone at me.
[Local] Chick With The Hair: Did it go into his butt.
[Local] Macrovolt: ...No.

I have to stop listening to random conversations in Pocket D.

Help] Umbral Raptor: They take it away when you're not looking then put it back before you look again.
[Help] Arkon Prime: My head is made of waffles, thinking about that.
[Help] Umbral Raptor: Hey, they're time travelers. They know exactly when you look, where you look...

I should likely not pay attention to random conversations in Help, either.

Hailing from Northern Ireland, Dylan O'Brien is a fantastic case study of what you probably shouldn't do with your life.

Which is drink heavily, chain-smoke and get horrifically mutated into a fighting monster with a tobacco factory growing in your throat.

Cursed by some unknown force (likely leprechauns) for some mysterious reason to have all good things slip away from him somehow (usually in pointless and bizarre manners), Dylan does not get to have nice things.

No food fit for human consumption, no clean clothes, no family, no money and no real friends. The only concessions he gets are liquor and cigarettes.

And that little immortality thing.

While he can certainly feel pain, he can't find a way to die. This makes him perhaps one of the most apathetic and lackadaisical villains in existence.

So, EMO-tions pulled the same silly stunt that I've mentioned earlier--namely, putting all their demos into individual boxen, which are then put in the main demo box to unpack. I really, really hate that trick, and just clicking on the boxen out of reflex, once rezzed out? Presented me with a Buy option. No, I do not want to buy them, they're demos, I want to unpack them. Sheesh.

Why is it a shame? Because of the alpha issues. From the front, it's good, but from the back and sides, it's terrible texture clash. See the curved line on the right side of the above picture? That's the outline of the back of my skull, and the back of my neck, clearly visible through this style. Unfortunate.

See what I mean? Why is this one only slightly affected? Is it a texture difference? I really don't know. I do know that I like both styles, but were I to buy only one, I wouldn't buy "Felice" because of the alpha issues.

Where were we? Oh, right, we were up to "Susan", seen here from the back in Dark Brown. From the front it's your standard casual bun, wisps of escaping hair at temples and forehead, all gathered up loosely in a tied scarf. The back, though--first, no alpha issues, yay, and second, there's just so much heavy hair weight here. It's glossy, it's lovely, it would fit a ton of different outfits.

Finally, "Wendy", seen here in blonde, which is an upswept high pony with loft. I had unflatteringly dismissed this as beachy Jersey hair until something flickered and a script notice went off that "Wendy" wasn't listening anymore, and to touch it to get it to listen again.

And watched in absolute shocked delight as my hands went up to my hair and LET IT DOWN. Oh my gods, that's fabulous. Miss Barzane, you're utterly forgiven any annoyance in unpacking. Just wau.

The demo box came with one more style than is shown here. You can find them in Water.

(What I'm wearing: The "Amnesia" set of ornate silks from Bare@Rose (that's a link to the search engine for them, but it has both a pic and a link to a SLUrl to get you there), Photoelectric eyes in Browne from Coca and Wolf, DV8's "Danse Macabre" ballet boots in Chablis [sadly no longer available], and cStar Limited's "Miss Leo 2012" gacha skin in Violet. [Note: there's a round of 26 skins in all on the roof of the store, they're currently L$14 each, but that's going to go up by L$1 each day until the promotion is over. The Violet is apparently the rare.]

This is Dark Side Creation's "Babylon" fantasy style; it has a clickable color-change script for the streaks, so this is the style in Black and Silver Soul. Basically, it's one single script, so very little lag, and it only changes part of the hair--they'll all be black and something else.

This is the Mackenzie demo, and...yeah, this one's odd. Okay, the back part--the hair beyond the striped scarf--is mesh, but the scarf itself is prim and adjustable. Still looks like I've had a partial craniectomy, though. On the other hand--for both this and the Babylon--I bet you could match a hairbase from Amacci or something to create a better sense of hair pulled back.

This is their Maggie demo, and oh yes, for the cat ears alone it will be mine. This is just dead cute, has a bit of flex, short but spunky and clever. I like it.

Two more styles were in the demo box and aren't shown. You can find Dark Side Creations in Water.

And, since EMO-tions is being difficult, I'll unpack everything I already unpacked from them and get to the real demos for next entry.

(What I'm wearing: The "Amnesia" set of ornate silks from Bare@Rose (that's a link to the search engine for them, but it has both a pic and a link to a SLUrl to get you there), Photoelectric eyes in Browne from Coca and Wolf, DV8's "Danse Macabre" ballet boots in Chablis (sadly no longer available), and cStar Limited's "Miss Leo 2012" gacha skin in Violet. [Note: there's a round of 26 skins in all on the roof of the store, they're currently L$14 each, but that's going to go up by L$1 each day until the promotion is over. The Violet is apparently the rare.]

Tired of all the inanity, typos and bigotry on YouTube comments? Now you can edit them to a convenient and mentally disposable form by installing one small program.

I will admit, I'm tempted. Of course, it will take the good comments away along with the bad ones, but if that's the price we must pay for clarity--and a lack of inanity--well, it just might be worth it.

Speaking of inanity...more from the Help channel:

[Help] MindGame.: Get this everyone..Im in PVP and had to go AFK so Squirrell ganks my toon while im afk...and then gets all proud and puts it in his bio...classic noobdom

All right, first off, while I know I have my little mantra for moments like this (namely, for anyone who doesn't know: "It doesn't matter that they're calling them 'toons', they're too stupid to know better"), it still doesn't help in that initial few seconds. It's a knee-jerk reaction: I don't play WoW, I'm never going to play WoW, and part of why I don't is the complete idiocy of making characters to romp around in a fantasy setting, and then deliberately calling them cartoons.

But there's more to this than that. When one is in a PvP zone, one can be attacked by other characters. Therefore, one's best solution would be to leave the zone if one has to be away for an extended time. Why didn't "MindGame." do that?

[Help] Dark-ling: ((Serves you right for going AFK in a PvP zone. Dicks abound in PvP.))
[Help] Super Toy: You go AFK in a PVP zone, then call HIM a noob?
[Help] Shadow Santiago: Point

I still don't, but I can see why folks would. One idiot ranting about the "unfairness" of getting killed in a zone where he can get killed, and why? Because he left the keys. Seriously, dude, all you had to do was walk out of the PvP zone, what's so hard?

[Help] MindGame.: So then he goes on this rant..and says he is putting me in his bio...so I told him he was going full retard...Never go full retard like him...lolololol
[Help] Darth-Killer: The only tard i see here is the one calling others tard because of his own mistake, MindGame. Namely... you.
[Help] Darth-Killer: don't bother, Squirrel, just blacklist him. ;)
[Help] GLAClUS: i go afk in pvp zone all the time. they're always ghost towns and there is no reward or consequence to dying so what does it matter?

To be fair, PvP really isn't a large part of City of Heroes, in large part because there's so many other enemies to fight. It's really a target-rich environment, plus players get more XP killing actual in-game enemies over other people.

There are essentially two ways to "join in" on this sort of "fun": first, mass PvP zones where bad things can happen to your character--whether you, yourself, are at the keys or not. Second, the arena, where the players go inside an instance to fight each other directly, or in teams.

There is never a point where one goes to a zone and is killed without their consent. You physically have to find the arena dome in your zone, and click the door to enter--and even then, you have a lobby before you go into the arena itself; or you go to places like Recluse's Victory, where everyone gets warned going in that it's a PvP zone, and you have the choice right then to stay or leave.

[Help] MindGame.: EXACTLY!!!...He is bragging about a AFK kill...classic noob
[Help] Squirrel?: i'm not bragging dip
[Help] GLAClUS: for agreeing with me i promise i will not freeze you in a block of ice and stab you with a sword made of my own hands
[Help] MindGame.: classic noob fear

I admit, I'm tempted to send a message to Squirrel asking him for a copy of his bio, or something. But also, why is this such a huge deal to MindGame, that he has to thoroughly distract Help channel with this nonsense, for hours?

[Help] Shadow Santiago: Hey, say noob again
[Help] Super Toy: Stop whining in help because you died. Help is for...well... help
[Help] Joseph Canwulf: Or, better yet, take this conversation to the arena channels, folks. You are in the general help chat.

Oh, were it only so. This should be restated: until the arrival of City of Heroes Freedom, Help channel was only for help. Now it's a meandering, passive-aggressive free-for-all most of the time.

Interspersed with the quotes I'm pulling out as I go on, between actual requests for help with this mechanic or that mechanic of the game, were ongoing catcalls back and forth between Squirrel and MindGame. I'll paraphrase:

MindGame: fight me you cheater

Squirrel: Nuh-uh

MindGame: I'll go back to that PvP zone I like that you killed me in

Squirrel: Come to the arena, I'll kill you there

Mindgame: Noob

Squirrel: Loser

Ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

Then Squirrel reposted something he saw while in the arena:

[Help] Squirrel?: 'MindGame. has declined to join your arena event.'
[Help] Squirrel?: there you have it
[Help] MindGame.: So he now runs away from me here in RV and wants arena..what cant handle RV ???

Well, I can't, for one, nor do I ever want to, but seriously--someone calls you out, and rather than go track down the fight you say you're spoiling for, you stay in Recluse's Victory and rant about how unfair the whole thing is? Seriously?

[Help] Magnus Stormborn: take it to whispers please, nobody cares about your pissing contest
[Help] MindGame.: Yeah he ran away from me..He cant fight in RV
[Help] Sarah R. Knight: Ooooh snap. Wait, no, what I meant was, who the fuck cares, you're not 12.
[Help] MindGame.: Why run off anywhere else...It started here but you now run away
[Help] MindGame.: IM here in RV noobles...Where the fight started..OMG he runs and hides again...jeeez

Did it ever once occur to him to take this into private message territory? No. Did it ever occur to him to take it into the actual Arena game channel? No. Did it occur to him to cease ranting if his opponent wasn't going to respond, rather than rant for over an hour and thus confirm his reputation as a blowhard child? Still no.

[Help] GLAClUS: would you just go in the closet and get it over with?
[Help] Squirrel?: please
[Help] Emperor Harkur I: Just Ignore them. I did.
[Help] Darth-Killer: glacius : mindgames still talking ? i've blacklisted him moments ago

This was the general consensus, yes.

Around this point, Squirrel stepped forward and apologized...sort of. It didn't help:

[Help] Squirrel?: sorry bout the disruption, i ignored em i'm just gonna farm this kid until he never comes back
[Help] MindGame.: LOL...he can only farm if your AFK
[Help] MindGame.: He runsaway and hides from you otherwise
[Help] Fortunata Sin: What's all this about?
[Help] GLAClUS: its just a pair of gay lovers having a marital dispute
[Help] GLAClUS: just look the other way and pretend its not happening
[Help] Lukhan Drake: Hey, don't drag the gays into this.

I will admit, Lukhan got major points for that line. In fact, overall, for the hours I spent in City of Heroes yesterday, every time gay-bashing surfaced (which it does with annoying frequency) someone stood up in Help, Looking for Group, or Broadcast and said it was wrong. I'm highly in favor of this trend.

[Help] Fortunata Sin: PvP is PvP, you can't fault someone for using a tactic that annoys you.
[Help] Hexman: Like showing up
[Help] MindGame.: Ok..ok..So just to show integrity if you have any...how long have you been trying to kill me since your lil afk gank?..two hours now?..anything??/...uh huh...he is a noob rocket allright...just runs off wont fight ya...

I think the entire channel rolled its collective eyes at this.

[Help] Fortunata Sin: Noob rocket, got it..
[Help] Fortunata Sin: Thanks for the heads up.
[Help] MindGame.: Actually more of a noob starship with transporters and phasers ...
[Help] MindGame.: There it is..he is a major noob...now he is just noob raging in here...classic

Actually, no, Squirrel's said very little throughout this entire exchange. MindGame, on the other hand, comes off as a petulant brat nearly from the initial line he sent out.

[Help] Fortunata Sin: Mindgame would like to state for the whole of Virtue that the person who pwned them in PvP is a major noob, and a starship.
[Help] MindGame.: He is so mad it is hilarious..he is talking about killing me and doing all of these diabolical things..wow I should write this all down..this is a classic noob meltdown squirrell is having..lol

That had to be in personal IMs, then, or he's simply hearing voices at this point, because we didn't see one single line of this in Help.

[Help] Shadow Santiago: What is MOST important, is that you feel superior to him, otherwise, whats the point?
[Help] MindGame.: Yes It is official..Squirrell is a noob starship..with warpnoob drive and such
[Help] Shadow Santiago: Say noob again
[Help] Flamekissed: He wants to impress us apparently and doesn't realise how little we care, and how small it makes him appear
[Help] MindGame.: You dont realize how little I care..lol
[Help] GLAClUS: like a redneck in a oversized pickup truck reving his engine because he doesnt have anything else to show off
[Help] MindGame.: Actually im a Care bear..

Wait...seriously? That's his comeback to someone saying that he must be overcompensating because he has small genitalia? To state that he's a stuffed, mass-marketed toy that has none?

Wau, MindGame, way to miss the insult, there.

[Help] MindGame.: Ok then what is his name?
[Help] Squirrel?: i'm done talking about it, that kid can have his account on a 3 day suspend
[Help] MindGame.: cmon whats his name?
[Help] MindGame.: aaaahhh ahhhhh you dont know it...but you know mine...

This isn't the boon he thinks it is. Remembering the name of the ranting imbecile who took over Help channel because his ego got punctured is a good way to ensure that no one teams with him, no one talks to him, and at least half the channel put him on ignore.

Squirrel, on the other hand, while also heavy in the posturing department, has mostly stayed out of the conversation, and thus comes off as the wiser, better man.

[Help] MindGame.: aaaaahhh now he want to get the devs...yep..he is a noob starship with warp noob drive...classic noob dev move..classic...lolol

For the uninitiated, while we're here, is this a thing? Like an internet meme thing? So many references to the "noob starship", is this something I'm just missing? Because it sounds like, in addition to being an ass, he has the imagination of a small blue bath sponge, and can't think of anything beyond reiteration of what he's already said.

And then--things got weirder:

[Help] MIND.GAMEs: Glacius your a coward..meet Mind Game in RV..are you afraid?

Wait, when did Squirrel drop out of the picture? The hell? And even more, when did the character change? He went from "MindGame." to "MIND.GAMEs" for...what reason, exactly?

[Help] MIND.GAMEs: Thats the point..you are all talk Glacious...You cant seem to back any of it up...Like Squirell
[Help] GLAClUS: thats why you had to change your name?
[Help] MIND.GAMEs: Nope just got on a different toon..one that PVP's all...so are you coming or do you back down?
[Help] CombustiBear: bitch slap each other on some other channel
[Help] Moo Jooz: so mind games is back trolling again

Apparently.

[Help] Edgefall: And this time he's on a level 1 blaster. Quick, everybody, PVP him!
[Help] Moo Jooz: thats good I will /ignore all of your accounts
[Help] MIND.GAMEs: Moo Jooz...Your life is on ignore..lol
[Help] Moo Jooz: its great he can keep popping $15 bucks to get ignored!
[Help] MIND.GAMEs: Bok bok bok..lil chicken..thats what I thought...anytime you grow a pair come to RV
[Help] MIND.GAMEs: See those lil minute pink things in your pants Glacius? They Jelly beans you dropped cause you got no ba.lls
Help] GLAClUS: at least i didnt get my nuts taken by a squirrel
[Help] CombustiBear: i just sent a petition to have mindgames booted off the server, three more anyone?

At this point, I was starting to think the same thing. In the end, I didn't, but if I see him blathering again in Help, he's so going on ignore.

[Help] MIND.GAMEs: Cause Glacius afraid to PVP in RV...Just like squirell...ran away and hid the whole time..classic tardom
[Help] GLAClUS: no because i dont pvp on a game if there is nothing to gain
[Help] MIND.GAMEs: I will stop if Glacius comes to RV
[Help] MIND.GAMEs: Stop being a coward Glacius and back up your words for once
[Help] Influenza Annie: You're assuming Glacius is a) still paying attention, and b) doesn't have you on ignore.
[Help] GLAClUS: i dont have him on ignore because im too busy laughing my ass off at him

Well, at least someone finds this amusing.

[Help] Joseph Canwulf: WTF, what is all this pvp bullshit in the help channel?
[Help] Kooky Monster: well there is an arena channel
[Help] Joseph Canwulf: When did that happen, didn't we used to moderate this channel?

Yes, before the launch of Freedom. Then I think the channel mod went and hid under his desk, frankly.

[Help] Joseph Canwulf: Not really interested in hearing two preadolescents pull each other's pigtails.
[Help] MIND.GAMEs: Same example of your life bro...getting called out on your shiz is how it goes ///It will on;ly get worse if you run like a chicken...
[Help] Joseph Canwulf: {-- closes the help channel.

And, as that sounded like an excellent idea, I did too.

It sounds like petulant whining of my own to say--yet again--that I wish the devs had handled the Freedom launch differently. For one, I still wish that folks on free-to-play could earn access to sending IMs and speaking in various channels; they can't now, but that would dump a lot of the whining and ranting off Help channel. There's been some of that splashing over onto the new channel, Looking For Group, but for the most part, people seem to be behaving in that one. But Help? Help is no longer helpful to most of us. Help is where you go when you can't talk anywhere else. Help is for spammers, idiots, and children who want to curse for no reason.

And that's a real shame. Because Help used to be actually helpful, to players who needed the help, and overwhelmingly got it when they asked for it. Now? It's just another channel broadcasting noise.

This is LOGO's "Alessandra" style in Cranberry (large size). This is a cascading, thick, heavy fall of hair, I love the color, and it rezzed in fairly quickly, all things considered. (I am again not using the hair alpha, but it does come with one, and two more sizes.)

This may or may not just be a me thing, but I'm really starting to resent designers that put a box with their product inside the demo box. Seriously, if I wanted to unpack things all day I'd go through my inventory more often. I'm picking on Miamai directly here, but it's happened so often this year it's getting seriously irritating.

Thankfully, they didn't get everything wrong--once I realized I had to unpack all the demos I thought I'd already unpacked, and rezzed everything out in the studio, they were all equipped with touch-and-receive scripts, so yay for that. Another good thing: Miamai included a link to their Hair Fair booth. So...still irked, but not vastly irritated.

This is Miamai's "Giselle" updo, in Brown, with the Style C hairbase in brown. There's a slight bit of texture oddity with this one--and that may just be the difference between prim items and system layers, in that the tattoo hairbase is just the merest bit darker than the hair.

With the hairbase for Ixie, from the front it's a very similar style. The back is where the interest is, featuring a softly gathered ponytail that's then pulled up and wrapped around the fall. Nicely done.

No, seriously. Why is my back on my face? Why is this ONLY happening with mesh hair? Why is this happening on one of the supposedly best graphics viewers OUT there? This is getting past surreal into morbid and creepifying.

There were three more styles included in the demo box; only two are shown. You can find Miamai's booth in Flower.

It was at this point that your reviewer logged out of SL, to--perhaps--return later. Too much graphical dissonance for me. I'll look and see if there's a Nirans update; if not, I may be...*shudders*...logging in on V3.

(What I'm wearing: The "Gemma" minidress from Absolutely Smitten, Clockwork eyes in Baby Blue from =HooT= [that's a Marketplace link; she doesn't appear to have those up for sale, but drop her a line and she might track them down], Baby Monkey's "Mia" bow pumps in Gold Moire [I'm not sure they're going to be seen, but Curious Kitties' all-over twining hair made me paranoid], and cStar Limited's "Miss Leo 2012" gacha skin in Light Beige. [Note: there's a round of 26 skins in all on the roof of the store, they're currently L$13 each, but that's going to go up by L$1 each day until the promotion is over.]

The mesh will alter to your main bone structure, such as height, torso length and body thickness. So if you move those, the mesh will just move with you. So for example if you are a short avatar or extremely tall, you will not have to worry about the item being long enough.

Ah-ha! Torso length I don't think I changed at all with Discord's "Phoenix" braid--I tend to run with a shorter torso, I think, than most. So I may have to revisit that one and try it again.

This is their "Versage" hair in "BlondeFun". I like the stylized curls at the front, that's a clever conceit.

One more style was included, and is not shown.

(What I'm wearing: The "Gemma" minidress from Absolutely Smitten, Clockwork eyes in Baby Blue from =HooT= [that's a Marketplace link; she doesn't appear to have those up for sale, but drop her a line and she might track them down], Baby Monkey's "Mia" bow pumps in Gold Moire [I'm not sure they're going to be seen, but Curious Kitties' all-over twining hair made me paranoid], and cStar Limited's "Miss Leo 2012" gacha skin in Light Beige. [Note: there's a round of 26 skins in all on the roof of the store, they're currently L$13 each, but that's going to go up by L$1 each day until the promotion is over.]

Script trying to trigger animations but PERMISSION_TRIGGER_ANIMATION permission not set
Script trying to trigger animations but PERMISSION_TRIGGER_ANIMATION permission not set
Script trying to trigger animations but PERMISSION_TRIGGER_ANIMATION permission not set
Script trying to trigger animations but PERMISSION_TRIGGER_ANIMATION permission not set

Hopefully that's just the animation for the bag hold that's going off, not the part of the script that actually sends the hair demos!

Would I like this style as much if it weren't in five separate colors? Probably not, because if I desaturate the photo and stare at it, it just seems overly busy and cumbersome.

It's from L+N Signature...I think, because even though that's what the demo box said, all the demos themselves came up as "maker unknown" and when I went to Search to help with tracking them down, the only "L+N Signature" that turned up said they were a steampunk shop, with no mention of hair.

Designers, please help us out--include a landmark to your store, if not a landmark and a notecard. Thanks.

There were five other styles in the demo box; only "Amalthea" is shown, because I'm just not sure I'm sending people to the right place.

So, I'm going to go out on this limb and say that Nirans' viewer has a perceptible, repeatable, consistent flaw (at least on my machine), where mesh is concerned: namely, mesh hair paired with either a tattoo layer or an alpha layer has a very high likelihood of stripping off my skin. While I decide if I'm going to jump ship to yet another viewer, this is the "Eraserhead" male style from Lamb. It sits on a close-cropped hair base and is fairly attractive as a unisex short style.

I really can't decide if I like this or not. Oh, it's pretty enough, and as with all mesh hair, it flows really well--but even if I wear the alpha layer, it still has some side-of-the-head problems, and--as rigged mesh--it cannot be adjusted.

There were five total styles in the demo box; only these three are shown.

This is +LALA Moon+'s "You're Mine" style in Ash Beige. This is a smooth, sophisticated style, and though there are minor clipping issues along the shoulders, it's only with certain of my poses. This may be another one I'm going to have to go down and get.

There were five styles total in the demo box; only "You're Mine" is shown. You can find +LALA Moon+ on the Water sim at Hair Fair.

This is the "Natasha" style in Faded Ginger from LaViere. The alpha for this one's a bit tricky: while it does remove the bit of scalp that shows through when wearing the hair, that same bit can protrude pretty damn easily again with certain poses.

And this is "Valere" in Raspberry. Shorter, still a sleek, fun style, but also requires an alpha layer. Good news: it doesn't clip as much in rotating poses. So yay for that. (Also, wau, does this shade go well with the dress.)

Six total styles came in the LaViere box; I'm only showing these two. You can find LaViere on the sim Sand at Hair Fair.

(What I'm wearing: The "Gemma" minidress from Absolutely Smitten, Clockwork eyes in Baby Blue from =HooT= [that's a Marketplace link; she doesn't appear to have those up for sale, but drop her a line and she might track them down], Baby Monkey's "Mia" bow pumps in Gold Moire [I'm not sure they're going to be seen, but Curious Kitties' all-over twining hair made me paranoid], and cStar Limited's "Miss Leo 2012" gacha skin in Light Beige. [Note: there's a round of 26 skins in all on the roof of the store, they're currently L$13 each, but that's going to go up by L$1 each day until the promotion is over.]

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

[Broadcast] Twilight Snorkle: {Lv19 team LFM, any AT or level welcome} Hello, everypony! I'm conducting research into the nature of the magic of friendship, and data indicates the best way to do that is by beating the stuffing out of somepony. Can you help?

There are some people in various games that just get on folks' nerves. (I am occasionally these people for many, it must be admitted.) But Twilight...She's about five of my "people to nuke from orbit" on City of Heroes for me.

Someone else made it moderately better:

[Broadcast] Commodore Slice: Hi, everysnorkle! I can help you by beating the stuffing out of you. How's that?

Yay!

And now, more insanity from the Help channel.

[Help] Exploding Geode: one thing i think Pocket D is missing is live music, should be a guest dj each week from the many paragon radio stations
[Help] Silver Flurry: There are. Most of the week, there are guest DJs playing in the D.
[Help] Exploding Geode: but you have to tune in seperately dont u
[Help] Exploding Geode: its not pumped through the game
[Help] Exploding Geode: thats not the same thing, queuing up winamp to run behind coh
isnt what i mean, replace the crappy Pocket music with LIVE music

Now, there's more I'm going to quote later on that will really tell you what level of whiny, opinionated, spoiled child Exploding Geode actually is, but for now, think on this: in a superhero game that already has a gathering place for heroes and villains, and has performing DJs with great frequency--he wants the D actually to be a functional center for DJs and dancing.

Why? For NCSoft to do that, they'd have to personally get licensing and fees in line, it would likely drive up the cost of the game for everyone--both in terms of leveling up the servers to host at least Pocket D, if not the entire game, and in terms of how difficult it would then become for people with older machines to connect to the game in the first place. Let alone potentially passing those extra costs to their subscriber base after.

[Help] Exploding Geode: NCSoft is big enough, if xbox live can do it, im sure they can strike a deal
[Help] Silver Flurry: You're assuming they want to.
[Help] Dius Fidius: assuming they can find a profit for it

Which is exactly the point--would streaming live music increase the game experience for their users? Would streaming live music be cost-effective, be a sufficient draw to new users? Would there be far more fees entailed on the part of NCSoft than benefit to them and to the game?

If the answers to any of those questions are "no"--and I suspect many of them are--then it's not going to be something NCSoft will ever be interested in doing.

Plus, as far as I'm aware, XBox Live only made streaming music available for their Gold Box subscribers only, through a deal with Last.fm. Which still means another company is handling the licensing and replay fees for them. What he's asking seems to be for NCSoft to essentially become a radio service in addition to being an MMO.

[Help] Exploding Geode: cant make the lag any worse, ever log on to a red server and wonder wth all the ppl are at?

And this comment--especially right after complaining about how Pocket D sucks because it doesn't have live streaming commercial music on an MMO--is just baffling beyond all reason. Wait, you're saying on the one hand that NCSoft is "big enough" to be able to host this, gratis, just because you want it--and on the other hand, that the villain-side of things is a wasteland? (Which, btw, it isn't--but seriously, those two statements don't go together.

[Help] Aria Fae: Why not just run Pandora in the background if you wanna listen to actual music?

This seems an eminently sensible suggestion. While my computer is still not robust enough to run streaming music from Pandora whilst playing City of Heroes, it can be done--and, let's be fair, if I lowered some of my graphics settings I probably could just fine.

[Help] Exploding Geode: all im saying is they pimp all kinds of things on paragon radio, i even went to a party where Miss Wentworths was giving money to some realhero charity, they just dont want to im guessing, but it would be a cool perk
[Help] Aria Fae: Uh.. I hope you're being sarcastic.

Admittedly, I thought the same thing.

[Help] Exploding Geode: i just turn on netflix and run it off my stereo

What? What does that evenMEAN?

[Help] Silver Flurry: No, I think he's just not thinking this through and he's serious.
[Help] Aria Fae: Pandora.com, it's a free online radio. You put in a few songs or artists you like, and it creates radio stations based off of your picks.
[Help] Silver Flurry: You like live music, you have the choice of turning to the Cape
or another Paragon station, and listening live, or...not. The D's not going to change.
[Help] Exploding Geode: i am serious i plugged 14.95 a month for years, i just think there is more to the game post 50, and it could be a useful tool to draw more peeps

You know, I didn't catch that line the first time through, when this conversation was unfolding live. So, he's doing all this bitching about how much the music in the D sucks in the first place, and he's not even a current subscriber?!?

[Help] Unlost: Paragon Radio and The Cape and any other such thing is a separate thing that has to handle their own legal stuff.

Exactly.

[Help] Exploding Geode: champs is fun i bought a lifetime subscription, another thing CoH is lacking, but im not complaining, would be nice though

So...he paid for a lifetime subscription to Champions Online, and dropped his subscription to City of Heroes. Not winning people over here, Geode.

But Aria was still trying to tell Geode about Pandora:

[Help] Aria Fae: It's both. You don't have to purchase anything.
[Help] Unlost: go there, make a channel, punch in some music, and let it rip.
[Help] Aria Fae: Just program in a station.
[Help] Aria Fae: It will play music similar to songs or srtists you list.
[Help] Unlost: It plays free. It has ads in it, to pay for the freeness, because they're pretty up front in that regard.
[Help] Aria Fae: Yeah about once every eight to ten songs you'll have a 30 second advert, but it's worth it.
[Help] Exploding Geode: type in deadmau5 and you prolly get 3 blind mice :P

Without ever trying the service, he's determined to keep bitching.

[Help] Unlost: It gets better as you tell it more.
[Help] Unlost: The first couple hours you'll be riding the thumbs down button, but as long as you toss some thumbs up in there too, after a bit it gets really nice.
[Help] Exploding Geode: type in Will I Am and you prolly get some 8 yr old with his
Casio keyboard :P

Seriously, guy, try it or don't. Plus, the folks behind Pandora have been at this a long time now, with some serious scientific metrics behind it. They have a fair amount of clout, and they're very tuned in. About the only thing you still can't get a ton of is local indie artists, but the moment they step out of their town, for the most part something shows up on Pandora.

[Help] Unlost: It's not like you have to sit there setting it up. Just 'oh that's
good *click, switch back*.. oh that bites *switch, click, switch back..*
[Help] Unlost: if it comes up with bs music you put thuimbs down and it stops it immediately goes to the next.
[Help] Aria Fae: Then you need to be more specific. If you type in a single song or
artist for it to choose from, it has a huge selection to play through. But if you type in four or five, it will narrow down to your tastes based off of those selections.
[Help] Exploding Geode: any program called Pandora, is obviously a box i dont want to
open, specially' if i dont get what i want

Well, good gods, you dimwit, it must be so tragic for you on a daily basis that the entire world doesn't immediately roll over and give you every little thing your heart desires. We weep for your lack of imagination.

[Help] Aria Fae: So fine tune the station. For example, my 'Rock station' plays music similar to A Perfect Circle, Tool, Alter Bridge, Breaking Benjamin and Thirty Seconds to Mars. I rarely have to skip songs, as it almost always plays something I enjoy.
[Help] Exploding Geode: Introducing the new Pandora Burger at Burger King, when you open the box your food transmorphs into some other cuisine!

Yeah, this is about when I determined he was a lost cause. I have to give Aria Fae props, though, she has far more patience than I have.

[Help] Unlost: [Help] Unfortunately the nature of learning systems.
[Help] Aria Fae: Then perhaps you are too selective and the site is not for you. I have never had any issues with it, personally.
[Help] Aria Fae: If you had been more specific, it would have.
[Help] Caustic Finale: *Shrug* I just popped on Pandora, made a brand new station, and I've liked the past 5 songs they randomed up.

And that's generally how it works. Plus, Pandora's improved a lot just over the past three years. It plays a song, and if you like that song, there are now links to places you can buy the song, or share with your friends. That's pretty cool for what's still, essentially, a new music discovery site.

[Help] Dr. Rob Waltz: the more artists you add makes it less specific, try using
specific music pieces you like
[Help] Aria Fae: I have Tool and A Perfect Circle listed in my station, and it often
plays The Deftones, even though I never put that into the selection list.
[Help] Ruinica: I usually just put in the name of a single band - then I use the like/dislike to teach it what I like about the band, and other bands with a similar sound that it presents...usually takes a few hours to fine tune, but once done, it's
wonderful
[Help] Invisible Spectrum: Pandora is very much a user by user basis.

I will agree that this is true. I've never had a problem with it, but I'm generally very specific about the types of songs I want to hear. You want up and punch in one artist, and leave it there, it's going to flail a bit until you give it more targeted information.

[Help] Caustic Finale: (Been listening to Pandora for the past half hour, for science. I've heard about four songs by the root artist.)
[Help] Assault Battery: Have you tried Grooveshark?

No! I hadn't heard of Grooveshark before this! I must go try.

Now, at this point, Exploding Geode wandered away from the Help channel, and we all--because we are, for the most part, mammals with higher reasoning intact--went about our evenings. Then, a few hours later, Geode returned--and, as entirely expected, immediately began to bitch about the lack of good things in City of Heroes. Aria Fae had finally had enough:

[Help] Aria Fae: Oh for the love of catnip...just shut the damned thing off if you
dislike it so much. Honestly, if I had known you were going to whine for half an hour, I wouldn't have suggested it.
[Help] Aria Fae: Other than you, I have never met anyone who disliked Pandora so much. You nitpicky son of a boar.

All I would add to that, is that is a lovely insult which I may have to appropriate.

[Help] Ivy Storms: Pandora is great it just depends on how open you are to new music
[Help] Unlost: It works fine, it does what it says, it works as designed, just because it isn't psychic or more cautious than it needs to be to do what it's made to
do doesn't mean it's 'bad'.
[Help] Ivy Storms: it's a radio station not a cd player
[Help] Aria Fae: If I had known you were the pickiest person on the planet, I would have suggested iTunes, so you could hand pick every song and never have to worry about hearing new music.

Here, here.

[Help] Unlost: 'oh this screwdriver is horrible, it doesn't drive nails worth a
darn'.
[Help] Aria Fae: I'll do as I please, as will you no doubt.
[Help] Aria Fae: And if someone asks me for a suggestion on music, I will send them to Pandora, because not everyone is as narrowminded as you. Most people actually enjoy different types of music.
[Help] Aria Fae: So take my second bit of advice, shut the site off. Honestly, if you dislike it so much quit wasting your time with it, and ours with your incessant bitching.

That seemed to be the end of it, save for this:

[Help] Anapa: I went to see what this Pandora thing was and it won't let me use it because I'm Canadian. :(

Which is both a valid bitch, and also sad. Does anyone know if there's a Canadian version of Pandora?

There's a unique challenge being faced by one particular mad inventor in New Babbage...well, maybe not mad inventor, maybe it's more mad remixer...who's wondering how to get really, really large, neo-Victorian male hair.

I do believe this is a job for Miss Kallisti Burns again--if she wants to make uber-large, mesh male hair for sale--but I'm also going to be wandering around looking for other potentials, as well.

Out and about at Hair Fair this week, I've definitely been running into an interesting crowd.

This damsel, for instance. Easily eight feet tall, zero shoulder width on the sliders...in fact, on that torso, while she did have breasts, they were high up on her chest, small, and slightly caved in from the compression. Plus, let's not forget her teeny little baby hands on foreshortened arms.

And I know, I know, it's just me, but...I still don't get the fetish for wearing belts as skirts.

Then there was this guy. Who seemed to be wearing tattoos, slightly translucent grey socks without toes, and a jockstrap stuffed with yet another sock. Why? Why would anyone go out in public like this?

Now, before I get any comments on "hey, she looks fine, she's just naked!"...you're right. She has nicely human proportions, arms of a decent length, hands that aren't teeny little mutant claws--and that skin looks great on her.

...I am kicking myself I didn't scan this maiden and find out where her gloves are from! And this is another one--before people rant and scream, I think she's gorgeous. Also dangerous--anyone who goes out with those wings, those claws, and nipple tape (for all that she also had a LOVELY physics layer to add bounce)...well, that might be an avatar to watch warily.

That having been said, I also wish I'd scanned her wings. Mostly because they read less as "fantasy wings" and more as she found some way to attach animate streamers of glowing sunset-colored silk to her shoulderblades. It was a deeply impressive effect.

(I should also say the reason the first snap of her is censored is that, even with a friend and I peering diligently, we could not decide whether that was an actual covered nether region, or...not. My vote was with not; my friend decided that it wasn't hair, but rope--possibly rope holding the otherwise impossibly attached bustle on.

(Still, as the 'whatever' was dark, and had some strand-for-strand detailing, I decided to err on the side of caution.)

calendaria

about the Conductor

There is no train. That's why it's real. Behind the screen I'm a crafter, a writer, a fabric artist; I'm poetically inclined, sarcastic as a profession, and a great admirer of life's oddities, both good and bad. Online I'm mostly baffled, confused, and retreat to kitten space to cope.

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